ABSTRACT
The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of unpaved roads built on soft soils reinforced with different geosynthetic materials. We selected three sections of unpaved roads with low load-bearing capacity. Vertical displacement (rut depth) was visually measured (photographs) for each number of passes on soils with and without reinforcement. The data underwent variance analysis by the F-test at 5% probability; when significant, means were compared by the Tukey’s test. Subsequently, we calculated traffic benefit ratio (TBR) or improvement factor due to the use of each reinforcement material. Non-woven geosynthetic materials reduced significantly the rut depths, mainly within the road sections I and III; by contrast, geosynthetic woven materials contributed in road section III. Moreover, geogrid use had no contribution to rut depth reductions. The TBR by using the reinforcements studied here showed values higher than one, with averages of 1.28 for road section I reinforced with geosynthetic nonwoven material, 1.54 for road section II reinforced with geosynthetic woven material, and 2.7 for road section III reinforced with geosynthetic woven.
load-bearing capacity; wheel track; traffic simulator
